J A D Associates Case Studies

Read detailed case studies on this page, that demonstrate how our skills have improved a range of organisations and businesses. Then find out how we can help you and the challenges you face by calling +44 (0)1673 843059, or complete the form at the bottom of this page to send us a quick email, so that we can call you.

HR services for the Lincolnshire Traveller Initiative

Jane Riley, on behalf of JAD Associates (Improvement Solutions) Ltd, was invited by Lincolnshire Traveller Initiative (LTI), in February 2015, to provide HR expertise in the development of an appropriate HR framework suitable for LTI’s needs and to facilitate transition to this framework in the light of a revised organisational structure in respect of current staff employed.

The LTI was formed approximately 15 years ago because Travellers’ were not accessing full time education in Gainsborough; They set up a parent and toddler group in Gainsborough, obtained some lottery funding, registered as a Charity and employed one play group worker and it grew from there. It developed to incorporate Lincoln and then funding was received which enabled the organisation to expand to county-wide.

The organisation developed in a very fluid manner due to the nature of the funding streams coming in. A large majority of the funding is restricted whereby the sponsor sets conditions on how the monies should be spent.

Funding is generally time-limited and aimed at delivery of a specific piece of work. Whilst expansion therefore brought great achievements and outcomes, it nevertheless resulted in a seemingly chaotic organisational structure which developed with no clear boundaries or accountabilities for staff and no performance metrics against which the organisation could be measured. This led to staff being unsure of their responsibilities and some potential leadership and management issues as there appeared to be no clear mission statement or objectives to which the organisation was working.

At the time of JAD’s engagement there were six Trustees. The roles and responsibilities of each Trustee were being developed and more clearly documented and agreed. The organisation was also transitioning from a Charity to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation which also reflected how the organisation had expanded; this move would also facilitate the implementation of a new organisational structure and constitution.

Jane met with two of the Trustees and proposed development of an HR framework in the form of an employee handbook and implementation of revised contracts of employment which should be reviewed annually in the light of most staff being employed on a fixed term basis. Jane developed the handbook and contracts via regular contact with the Trustees and was available for telephone support during the implementation phase.

Paul Boucher, Director said that the project “was completed comfortably within the agreed timescale” and that LTI were “very comfortable with the content and structure”. He confirmed that the project represented “good value and a good investment for our organisation”. He said he would recommend JAD Associates to other organisations.

Find out more about LTI on their website here: Lincolnshire Traveller Initiative.

JAD can guide you through Employment or Workplace issues. They can also improve your human 'resources' through Management Training or Team Development, equipping managers to manage, and encouraging departmental teams to team-up. Click through to JAD's website for full details on their Human Resources Management

Health, Safety and Environmental Management Systems in a Food Supply Chain Company

David Riley of J A D Associates was contracted to review the health and safety arrangements of a growing Food Supply Company in Lincolnshire.

A full and detailed compliance audit was carried out and documented to identify all applicable regulations and safety risks for the organisation. With a clear understanding of the needs and direction of the business, a detailed suite of policies and procedures were subsequently put in place.

In order that staff would appreciate the common sense "can do" approach as opposed to the widely perceived "can't do" style approach of procedural requirements, a basic training programme was developed for all current staff and all new recruits to the organisation. This programme involved Manual Handling issues as they affect the Company, Workplace Transport issues, Office Ergonomics and Work related travel.

The programme developed was used by the organisation successfully.

Independent Health and Safety System Audit on a Registered Social Landlord

J A D Associates were requested to carry out an independent Heath and Safety System audit on the current arrangements employed by a registered Social Landlord providing housing in the East of the country.

The audit addressed not only a check of compliance against applicable laws but also looked at the perception of safety through the requirements of the Chief Executive, Middle Managers and Employees on the front line.

The audit was carried out and reported within the time scale required and the report presented highlighted best practices as well as areas where improvements could be made.

The customer endorsed us by saying "David Riley of J A D was very professional in his approach, interpreting the brief and identifying the systems to look at closely. He was easy to work with and he reached all staff from Cleaner to CEO. Highly recommended; we will be working with him again in the future".

Internal Integrated Management System Audit on a Public Property Services Division

J A D Associates, as part of an OHSAS 18001 implementation programme, were asked to carry out the internal safety audits for the Division and to carry out specific audits on areas where the risks were considered highest.

The management system audit highlighted areas needing further attention subsequent to successful certification. The high risk area audits on post room activities and mobile maintenance engineers' activities were used to develop more comprehensive risk assessments and a tool box talk programme for manual staff.

J A D Associates continue to supply audit services to this organisation and as a result have been further contracted to develop bespoke training for staff in line with current legislation, and to encourage creative and cost effective ways of ensuring safe working.

The customer endorsed us by saying "J A D Associates' David Riley was very professional in his approach, interpreting the brief and identifying the systems to look at closely. He was easy to work with and he reached all staff from Cleaner to CEO. Highly recommended; we will be working with him again in the future".

NHS Medical Workforce Planning

Jane Riley of J A D Associates, in collaboration with a Turnaround Finance Associate, responded to a request from an NHS Strategic Health Authority client for a focused piece of work to deliver a three to five year medical workforce plan for the Region. Medical (doctors and dentists) workforce planning has historically been patchy or non-existent at a Local level across the UK, as most such planning has usually been carried out at National level with little Regional input. This project was therefore commissioned as a first step in seeking to significantly improve medical workforce planning for this particular Strategic Health Authority.

The initial approach was to write a business case for conducting the project whereby the Local Health Authority Workforce Leads were consulted and a facilitation approach was endorsed. There was generally a high level of enthusiasm for the project as needed doing. As the final conclusion of the Business Case was that the project could potentially become quite large, a modular approach was recommended and J A D Associates was subsequently engaged onto Module One of the project, the Mechanical Projection.

The Mechanical Projection was a forecast of what might happen in the absence of any actions designed to alter the outcome. It included:

Gathering data on the current workforce profile

Initial validation and checking

Applying a consistent format to support subsequent modelling

Deriving the ratios, assumptions and medical workforce drivers

Building a model using financial modelling techniques

Producing a initial projection of where requirements were heading

Workshops to validate the projection with the Workforce Leads

The key outcome at the end of this module would be a baseline snapshot of what the Region had now in terms of medical workforce and what the requirement would be in the absence of any policy initiatives. This snapshot would be without opinion.

One of the primary outputs from this Module was the learning that was achieved, particularly with respect to the modelling approach, communication processes and data sources, and the Strategic Health Authority was keen to capture this experience to inform and build on in subsequent Medical Workforce planning exercises. The Client commented:

"The brief changed along the way as data was collected and analysed, raising different questions. The J A D Team was flexible and responsive to those changes."

Key conclusions of the Mechanical Projection indicated:

The drivers behind growth in the medical workforce extended beyond those used in the modelling exercise, productivity, changing technology and work practices or changes in work patterns (such as restrictions imposed under the European Working Time directive for example).

There appeared to be no link between demand (i.e. the needs in relation to workforce growth in terms of numbers or balance between specialties) and supply coming through the training system. The supply systems therefore appeared to work independently of any future projection of demand.

There appeared to be no consistent understanding or Region-wide approach to other factors affecting workforce planning such as the impact on demand of leavers / joiners to the system through retirement, natural wastage, turnover etc. Information gathering throughout the execution of the project was a complex, inconsistent exercise.

At the outset of the project it was agreed that Medical workforce planning is acknowledged to be difficult because there are many stakeholders and partners and communication or interaction between them is considered insufficient. During the execution of Module One, J A D Associates certainly encountered all these problems and more. Nevertheless, significant progress was made in producing a baseline snapshot of the Regions Medical Workforce which could now be built on and expanded. The client commented that "the project represented value for money and It took us on the first step on the way to solving our problem which is what we requested. We would be very happy to use J A D Associates again and recommend to others."

Management of Change in a Fabrication and Manufacturing Business

Jane Riley of J A D Associates was asked by the Managing Director of a fabrication and manufacturing business to advise on steps to be taken in restructuring the factory in order to maximise efficiencies in light of changing customer demand.

As a first step Jane reviewed all the personnel files and catalogued the history and processes in place. In conjunction with the client Jane then developed a bespoke redundancy programme for the business, starting with a voluntary programme, aimed at easing the immediate financial burden on the Company and paving the way to a restructuring of job roles and processes to take place in line with new product lines being developed. As Jane provided step by step guidelines, the Client was then able to manage this process with minimal telephone consultation with J A D Associates subsequently.

The Client commented: 'Jane's attention to detail, knowledge of her subject and her reliability ensured a very effective solution for our business. I would thoroughly recommend using J A D Associates to others.'

ISO 17025:2005 Certification for a Specialist Calibration Laboratory

As a result of changes in management personnel, David Riley of J A D Associates was requested to review the position of the certified management system used in a Specialist Calibration Laboratory. The key brief was to ensure that the laboratory would continue to maintain its UKAS accreditation, produce a gap analysis and, where deficiencies were found, manage the corrective and preventative actions necessary.

Shortcomings were identified in the systems used for internal auditing, the management of feedback and non-conforming work, and how management reviews were carried out.

Under David's guidance, a comprehensive, yet operationally focussed internal audit programme and findings reporting system was initiated and carried out prior to a surveillance visit by UKAS.

A focussed Management Review was also suggested to the laboratory with short and concentrated monthly meetings that were no more than an hour long. These were designed to look at the ongoing and operational issues. An annual Management Review was also scheduled to review the overall trends and strategic needs of the Laboratory.

The changes to the laboratory management system were easily accepted by all levels of staff and were fully compliant with the ISO17025:2005 standard. They were no longer perceived as 'getting in the way', and have improved the laboratory processes significantly.

The auditor from UKAS commented that it was plain to see that 'the laboratory had gone through a step change improvement'.

Health, Safety and Environmental Management Systems in a Food Supply Chain Company

David Riley of J A D Associates was contracted to review the health and safety arrangements of a growing Food Supply company in Lincolnshire.

A full and detailed compliance audit was carried out and documented to identify all applicable regulations and Safety risks for the organisation. With a clear understanding of the needs and direction of the business, a detailed suite of policies and procedures were subsequently put in place.

In order that staff would appreciate the common sense approach of the procedure requirements a basic training programme was developed for all current staff and all new recruits to the organisation. This programme involved Manual Handling issues as they affect the company, workplace transport issues, office ergonomics and work related travel.

J A D Associates now carry out retained Heath and Safety responsibilities for the company that include the analysis of accidents and near hit accidents, the update of legislation and annual audits.

Failure Investigation and Analysis of Hydraulic Pump Bearings

David Riley of J A D Associates was asked to inspect, investigate, analyse and report on a number of bearing failures that had occurred in a critical application used to supply hydraulic oil to lubrication and control systems in a primary pumping system.

David was asked to witness a set of stripped parts, participate in two further strip downs on site and to report on further components supplied by the customer.

The findings of the investigation led to issues with the viscosity of the pumped medium, the compatibility of the greases used within the pump bearings and also the fitting arrangement of a number of the bearings.

On completion of the bearing investigation the Engineering Project Manager for the maintenance company involved stated that J A D Associates had been able to take the investigation down avenues that they would not have considered and that these proved subsequently to reveal facts that would prevent future problems and failures.

Phased Re-Introduction of Student Nurses and Midwives to an NHS Trust

Challenge:

J A D was asked by The East Midlands NHS Strategic Health Authority to respond to a specification for the Delivery of a Structured Plan and Support Mechanisms for the Phased Re-Introduction of Student Nurses and Midwives to an NHS Trust after the Regulatory body, The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), had expressed a lack of confidence in this site as an educational environment and therefore requested their removal. The Project involved facilitating all Stakeholders (SHA, Universities, and Trust under the supervision of the NMC) to develop and implement an action plan, including a review of processes and escalations procedures as well as development of a Lessons Learned Report and Recommendations.

Solution:J A D developed a structure for managing the Project, including a Project Board comprising Senior Executives from all Stakeholder organisations, responsible for providing strategic direction to the Project and an Operational Liaison Group who were responsible for implementing the action plan once it was developed. J A D facilitated the groups to work together via a combination of telecoms and face-to-face workshops. J A D also drafted the handover and lessons learned report which was subsequently signed off by all Stakeholder Groups, including the Regulator.

Results:A whole range of joint working processes and procedures were reviewed and improved during the lifespan of the nine month Project, including educational audit, student complaints procedures, student evaluation processes and this resulted in the development of shared escalation processes which were published for use across all Stakeholder organisations. J A D also facilitated the Groups in reviewing shared meetings and committees to ensure they were fit for purpose and reviewed the membership of these. The NMC joined the Project Board in the final stages of the Project and was very complimentary about the level of partnership working achieved and progress that had been made.

Learning beyond registration (LBR) training evaluation project (2013)

J A D Associates (Improvement Solutions) Ltd was appointed to carry out a review of professional post-registration education across an NHS Local Education and Training Board (LETB) with a view to informing future commissioning of this programme of education. J A D had support from the Higher Education Academy throughout the project.

J A D spoke to or met with a wide range of representatives from all stakeholder organisations, including Local Education and Training Board (LETB) Managers, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), Local Education Training Councils (LETCs) and Trust LBR Leads.

The key deliverables included:

A SWOT Analysis of the LBR provision in the Region

The outputs from an on-line survey of both LBR Students and their Managers

A flow chart giving J A D’s impression of how the process worked based on data gathered

A listing of high uptake modules, including a sampling across several HEIs of modules paid, including some modules not reported in the LETB annual LBR Utilisation Report

The overriding impression that J A D have come away with following this review is that LBR training provision was highly valued within the region. Notwithstanding, however, there did appear to be a whole wealth of historical legacy issues and perceptions which were influencing how the portfolio was perceived and being utilised and which were probably the result of many NHS reconfigurations over recent years.

J A D's NHS Medical Specialty Training Project

A Case Study on the System Wide Intelligence Project on behalf of the NHS Joint Working Group on Medical Speciality Training Numbers

The role of the Joint Working Group on Medical Specialty Training Numbers is to:

Assess proposals from Regional Strategic Health Authorities to ensure account has been taken of National postgraduate medical education training strategic requirements and that the proposals also reflect long term as well as short term planning needs.

Membership of the Joint Working Group is made up of representatives from the Department of Health (England), Royal Colleges, British Medical Association, Postgraduate Deans, Strategic Health Authorities, NHS Employers, and the Centre for Workforce Intelligence.

Jane Riley of J A D Associates responded to a request for a proposal from a lead member of the Joint Working Group, in respect of researching and recommending a system wide intelligence (SWI) solution nationally (England) for medical workforce planning.

his project was commissioned when it became apparent that the Joint Working Group on Medical Specialty Training Numbers had not been successful in capturing the year on year intelligence required in order for the Group to make informed planning decisions in respect of the spread of Specialty Training Numbers at a national level. As a result it was not clear that the Joint Working Group was working effectively to reduce hospital Specialty Numbers in favour of General Practice as per Governmental policy.

The overall scope of the Project was therefore to research what was available in England in respect of medical workforce data sources and data collection activity with the ideal objective of recommending a system wide intelligence solution that would improve the data available for medical workforce planning and to therefore enhance the decision-making that informs the commissioning of Specialty Numbers. J A D was supported throughout by Andy Knapton of Strategic Modelling Analysis & Planning Limited.

The primary output from the Project was a full report on the findings identified, including a mind map which mapped out all the different stakeholders and components involved in medical workforce planning demonstrating the disconnects between them, and a Summary of National and Local Medical Workforce Planning Data Collection Work and Information Sources. Whilst the focus was on activity in England, an added complexity of medical workforce planning is that it is difficult to separate out England from the UK.

The report also provided a set of recommendations to ensure a drive towards a system wide intelligence solution.

The report was submitted in October 2012 and Jane was then asked to assist with consultation on the report as well as developing a mechanism for obtaining feedback from all major Stakeholders which was then used to develop an action plan going forward in early 2013.

Trish Knight, Director of Workforce, Education and Quality of the East Midlands Local Education and Training Board, said that J A D definitely met the Joint Working Group’s expectations and that the final report was good. She said that Jane was “very patient in the number of iterations we had to go through”.

The Impact Of The Qualification Route For Occupational Therapists

Project For The Delivery Of An Overview Of The Impact Of The Qualification Route For Occupational Therapists On Practice Upon Registration

BackgroundFollowing the workforce planning exercise in the East Midlands a Strategy Education Review (SER) Group was set up by Health Education East Midlands (HEEM) in order to review the current delivery of Occupational Therapy (OT) training across the Region in order to enable education commissioning decisions to be made based on future workforce needs and to align programmes with care to the patient across the health and social care sectors. The review supported engagement from services and improved decisions. One of the outcomes of SER was the need to commission a report to review the evidence of the impact of the qualification route for Occupational Therapists on practice upon registration. JAD Associates (Improvement Solutions) Ltd (JAD) were appointed to carry out this piece of work.

Purpose of the Impact ReviewTo provide an independent and objective review of HEEM’s Occupational Therapy education commissions in the East Midlands with a view to providing a full report on evidence of the impact of this training on the career pathways and patient care. HEEM wanted to understand what was the difference experienced by service and patients between the Occupational Therapy programmes commissioned across the East Midlands. As the contracts with the Universities are aligned to the HEEM education commissioning cycle and decisions on the programmes to commission for 2015/16 are made late August/September 2014, HEEM requested that this work be completed by end July 2014 in order that it contributed to the evidence used for the decisions for this round of education commissioning.

MethodologyThe project timescale was very short due to the next commissioning cycle starting late August. JAD therefore spoke to key University Programme Leads as well as representatives from Service, a representative from the College of OT and conducted extensive email liaison with both University and Health Education East Midlands Staff. The key deliverables included a Programme Matrix which mapped the programmes of all the pre-registration OT courses in the East Midlands and the results of an on-line survey of both Students and Graduates of OT, and Managers of OT Services, as well as a full report on findings and evidence gathered.

Survey responses were exceptional and included 191 Students of which 55% were current Students and 45% were past Students. Of 90 Manager responses, over 50% of the respondents stated that they were OT placement coordinators or educators. Just less than 15% were Service Managers and around 10% were University Lecturers or Teaching Staff. Over 70% of the Manager respondents worked within the NHS; 37% in NHS acute and 27% in NHS community care

JAD presented the results of the surveys by answering the questions in HEEM’s Specification under the three headings of Student, Impact on Service and Employment.

OutcomesThe review did present some very useful information surrounding Service perceptions of the outputs of the current programmes in the East Midlands and Student views on the efficacy of the various programmes. Overall JAD believes that the results of the review were encouraging because they demonstrated that OT education provision is well valued and that it caters for a wide range of entry routes into the profession. In terms of the balance between the BSc and MSc programmes, however, the evidence did not highlight any major differences, and in fact the employment routes appeared to be very similar for both.

Several recommendations for improvements to the programmes were put forward by both Managers and Students, particularly in relation to improving the quality of practice placement experience that could be considered in the 2015/16 commissioning cycle.

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